


violet nights

by aelescribe



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, M/M, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25339690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelescribe/pseuds/aelescribe
Summary: Bianca's brother is lost in the land without rain. She grieves, carries out her father's will, and moves on.Until he turns up at Camp Jupiter years later.
Relationships: Bianca di Angelo & Nico di Angelo & Hazel Levesque, Bianca di Angelo/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace
Comments: 25
Kudos: 121





	1. selene

**Author's Note:**

> Based on @achillesmonochrome au on tumblr: Nico takes Bianca's place on the quest in TTC and presumably dies. She leaves the hunters as a result and takes his place in the story. However, Nico is rescued by Camp Jupiter, and grows up with Reyna and Jason. Read here

Jason and Reyna are talking far too much for Nico’s comfort. He can tell when they’re putting on a show for him. No one else is privy to their fronts, but given their protective nature over him, it makes sense. 

“What is this about?” The senate house is eerily quiet. There’s a sense of foreboding in the air. His palms sweat. He can’t place the anxiety mounting inside his chest. Some nervous, intense physical response that he hopes has more to do with Reyna and Jason concealing something than the thing being concealed. 

Jason places a hand on his shoulder, gentle and affirming. His face warms at the touch. “There’s an ambassador we would like you to meet.”

“All the Centurions have to meet the new ambassador, Jason.” He’s more excited at the prospect of meeting the new demigod accompanying the ambassador. Rumor has it, it’s one of Pluto’s children. 

“Quit being cheeky.” He looks to Reyna for help.

“We wanted you two to meet first,” Reyna actually manages to calm him. Whenever Jason’s in close physical proximity, his brain tends to short circuit, and he’s not able to focus on anything else. “Before she’s thrust into the public.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

Reyna and Jason share a glance. They have been friends for much longer with each other than Nico, and surprisingly, he rarely gets jealous of them (anymore), despite how close they are. In fact, he had gotten closer with Reyna since confessing his feelings for Jason, as she tried to sort out her own sexuality in relation to their close bond. 

“You should just meet her.” The hand on his shoulder squeezes, ushering him forward. He lets it happen, just to keep Jason’s hand on him longer. 

In the middle of the space, framed against the pillars and the towering rows of the empty senate, stands a girl. She’s slender and pale. She could be described as delicate from a distance, until you got a look at her eyes. They sheen black as stygian iron, with unfathomable depth. 

Her black trench coat is quite roomy, a giant shadow she can slip into (and what a notion that is), but underneath wears a normal green wrap dress over dark jeans. Her dark, curly hair tumbles down her shoulders. She doesn’t look like any demigod Nico’s ever seen.

But at the sight of her, something awakens. Something inside him is screaming, trying to get out. There’s a muted pressure behind his eyes giving him a headache. He winces.

The girl looks at him and emits a sound Nico’s never heard a person make. It hurts, low and pained, shaking with absolute disbelief. For many long moments, she just stares, and he tries to understand why she’s looking at him like that. With such importance. Such gravity. 

“Nico.” Her voice is rough. His name sounds like a prayer.

It doesn’t occur to him to ask how she knew his name. He stands there, afraid of what might happen to her if he leaves her field of vision. She seems afraid he’ll disappear any second.

She walks to him slowly, her hands reaching to cup his cheeks when she’s close enough, inspecting him for damage. Her hands are cold, but he doesn’t mind. He’s got such a low body temperature, being a child of Pluto. 

“Nico,” she says, “It’s me.”

Her thick lashes wet with tears and she sobs. Her thumbs smooth over his cheekbones, his eyelids, trace the freckles on his cheeks. He can’t bring himself to look away. She moves to embrace him and he steps back, finally, has to ask, “Who are you?”

He regrets the question the instant he asks it. Her face crumples from shock to despair, and she starts crying harder, if possible. But that lasts only a moment. Her head bows and she collects herself. When she rises again, her face is splotchy but dry. Her black eyes look sinister rimmed red. 

“I… I’m your sister,” she says. 

“You’re a child of Pluto, too? I thought you were _bringing_ my sister.”

“No, I am, she is, but… you’ll meet her later. Nico, I am _your_ sister. Your _human_ sister.”

The world stops. Everything comes into high definition. The shadows in the room darken until she is the only thing he can see. He feels as though he’s been plunged into ice water. His frigid lungs conspire against him.

“My sister? I don’t have a sister. What?” He’s dizzy. He actually stumbles, and would have fallen if not for Jason’s hand on his back.

“… You don’t remember me.” 

“What’s happening?” He looks to Reyna for support, help, _something_. She keeps him grounded when everything threatens to float away. She regards Bianca carefully, and seems upset that her presence is setting him off. He’s finally gotten his panic attacks, blackouts, under control. Until now. 

She’s quiet for a long time after that, though, choosing her words carefully. “Just let me explain. Please, Nico.”

His name sounds so tender coming from her. 

They both need air, so he walks with her down the lip of the Tiber, listening warily. They sit peacefully on the bank. Blades of grass brown under her touch. “I thought you were _dead_. I was supposed to protect you. It’s my fault you’re here.” 

Nico feels it necessary he defend his homestead. “I _like it_ here. I’m… happy.” And he never feels ownership over that word. 

The ambassador smiles pityingly. “Nico, you don’t belong here.”

A chill settles over him. The words hurt more than he expected. He was a weird enough kid, isolated enough, without this reminder. The pain must show palpably on his face, because she backtracks. He’s never been good at hiding his emotions, either.

“That’s not what I meant! I-I’m sorry. This is new. I’ve spent the last few years _grieving_ you, and now you’re here, and, and I don’t want to mess things up like I did last time.” Her hands curl into the dirt. She exhales. “I can’t tell you everything right now. But know this: I’m your sister. And I’m going to take care of you, no matter what. I won’t let you get hurt ever again.”

Despite himself, warmth blooms in his chest. He’s inclined to believe her. She’s so sincere and she looks lonely in a way that Nico recognizes. When he catches their reflections side by side in the water, he sees how much they look alike. His heart hammers in his chest.

“I know, Bea,” he tells her. “I know.”

“Bea?” He touches his lips, not sure where the moniker came from. She laughs. “It’s Bianca. You used to call me Bea when you were little since it was easier than 'Bianca'.” 

The nickname buzzes in his mouth. More floats beneath the surface of his mind, just out of reach. Nico has an idea of who he is, but not what came before Camp Jupiter. He likes who he is here.

And when he gets a look at Bianca (his _sister_ ) and her haunted eyes, he isn’t sure he wants to find out what happened before.


	2. chrysothemus

Hazel is a welcome change. 

She’s not as boisterous as she remembers Nico being, and holds a quiet wisdom that breaks Bianca’s heart, itself a tenant of someone who has gone through too much too fast. She keeps Hazel close to her and tries to take care, tries to get her to open up, and aches to hear her every word. 

She’s coming across as overbearing, but after losing Nico, she needs every interaction with Hazel she can get. 

Hazel joins the Fifth Cohort days after Bianca finds out her brother has been alive the last five years. He watches them take turns strapping each other into their armor. They’re quiet and coy in a way that Bianca and Nico never were. Fast friends and thick as thieves they’ll become.

After this round of the war games, Nico and Hazel bring a landslide victory for the Fifth Cohort. Despite being at the bottom of the rung socially, they have a couple hard hitters. And after all, it was where the praetors trained, too.

When it’s over, Praetor Jason embraces Nico, swinging him off his feet. Hazel laughs.

She’s taken back to their first game of capture the flag, where he swayed whichever direction his sword pointed, and he kept having to pull up his knee pads when they sank down his shin. The only remnant of this is the crooked tilt of his helmet, black plume tickling his nose. 

She wants to meet him in the grass with open arms. She wants to ruffle his hair. She wants to flick her sister’s nose and blame her brother for it. Their father would call them to the kitchen for dinner, deep voice soft with affection.

She wants a family. Bianca bites back a sob. She wants her mama.

“I enjoy watching the games.” Reyna catches her by surprise. When did she leave the stands? “But it doesn’t compare to the rush of participating.”

She hides her snot in her sleeve. Even at Camp Half-Blood she was on the margins, watching the games happen. Sleeping in the Hermes cabin was too crowded, claustrophobic, and there was no place else for her to go. 

That’s when Percy would open his cabin to her, just to get her to stay, just to get her to eat something. He was too kind for his own good. She sees some of that in Jason. Anyone foolish enough to get close to the diAngelos can see their sheen comes from _glass_ , not diamond, and will shatter as easily. 

When she looks at Reyna, it almost breaks her. “... What?”

“You’re responsible for him. What you do outside of these borders is not my concern.” _Yet_ , the unspoken threat hangs in the air, challenging her legitimacy. She can stomach that. Things that hurt are personal to the point it rarely phases her anymore. “If he gets hurt… his recovery will be the least of your concerns.”

Nico sees her from a distance and comes bounding over. Hazel and Jason make to catch up. “Bee, were you watching? Did you see when I kicked Octavian’s—”

“—And whose defense gave you that opportunity?” 

Hazel and Nico bicker, fighting for validation from their older sister. Out of the corner of her eye, Reyna inches away, and the siblings leave without Nico ever saying a word to her, too focused on giving Bianca a play-by-play of the battle she just witnessed.

Worst of all, Reyna looks hurt. Abandoned. Something like this has happened before.

But when their little hands fit in each of her own, Bianca can’t find it in herself to apologize. So instead, she reaches.

"How does gelato sound? I've got dad's credit card." 

"Jason gets brownies," Nico interjects, straying from his sister to that boy again. 

Jason bumps his shoulder and grins. His cheeks are pink, a display of bashfulness that contradicts the praetor persona Bianca has been aware of thus far. "You get me."

Hazel breaks into a run. "Last one there's on elephant duty!"

"I _outrank_ you!" Her siblings break into a run. Jason shrugs at Reyna, _What can you do?_ , and takes flight after them, leaving the girls alone. They walk in silence, cold, afraid to trespass.

"He really likes you," Bianca says at last. "Thank you for looking after him."

Reyna smiles faintly. She gets rare bursts of affection whenever she's around Jason or Nico, but you can't tell unless you look at her eyes. She maintains her stoicism, but the way she lights up whenever they're around each other is the kindest, brightest thing Bianca's seen at Camp Jupiter to date. With a pang, it reminds her of Grover, Percy and Annabeth. Inseparable. Or how Thalia and Annabeth used to look at Luke.

She shivers. That was a long time ago.

"I'm sorry he doesn't remember you, for what it's worth," Reyna says. "That... can't be easy."

"It isn't," Bianca agrees. The night air, once ripe with victory, is now sour in her mouth. "How did you _find_ him?"

Her face clouds, unreadable. "I know Krios was recruiting demigods. Jason came across one of their scouting parties. Nico was a prisoner to the Greeks. There was some _machine_... I suppose they figured having a child of Pluto on their side would edge them toward victory. But, Jason found him, freed him, and brought him here."

Bianca's heart hammers in her ears. Talos. Nico ran after it, eager to prove himself, and never came back. She never fully believed Percy. She should have _felt_ if something happened to her brother. She would've known he died. She could never summon his ghost, his body was never found... Guilt seizes her. All this time Nico has been alive, happy and cared for, and Bianca just stopped looking. She gave up. She had to, didn't she? Was she just going to drive herself crazy trying to take back what-ifs? She teethes the inside of her cheek bloody, raw.

"He didn't remember anything. So we gave him the choice to join the legion. Figured his chances of survival there were better than if he was wandering around the wilderness by himself, no name, no idea. Jason vouched for him and he joined the Fifth Cohort."

That name again. "I'm glad he's got a friend like Jason. They seem close."

"They are." Reyna looks her up and down, but what she expects to find, Bianca doesn't know. She can't get over the fact that Nico's been alive this whole time. He's had a bed to sleep in, a shoulder to cry on. Her emotions threaten to swallow her up. Guilt, because she should be the one taking care of him. Relief, because this whole time he's been alive and safe and he seems... happy. Jealousy, because he's had a bed to sleep in and a place to call home. 

Bianca can't afford to let herself miss such simple pleasures.

"Stay tonight," Reyna says as the approach the gelato stand.

"I don't... I should probably get going."

She catches Bianca's wrist. "There's a guest room in the praetor's villa. Please. For Nico." 

"For Nico," she agrees, letting Reyna's fingers curl around her pulse point. She hopes she can't feel how fast it's thrumming her veins.

The next morning, she wields Reyna's information against her father, storming into his throne room.

“All this time,” her voice warbles, “he’s been _alive_.”

Hades regards her, bemused and nothing more. “Did I imply otherwise?”

“That’s why I couldn’t find his soul. I thought he didn’t want to say goodbye to me—” She takes a moment to steady her voice. Her father only further ignores her when she lets her emotions get the best of her. It isn’t becoming for a daughter of Hades to be so quick to ignite. “But this whole time he’s been _alive_.”

“I recall you swearing to keep the identity of the Greek camp hidden for their safety as much as the Romans.” His form flickers, for a moment, to a business man with slick, white hair, and coal black eyes. She’s seen this man, with his iron brick arms, an even colder and vaguer iteration of her already standoffish father. “And revealing the Romans any earlier than I did to you would have resulted in Kronos winning the war.”

“He doesn’t remember me.”

That cracks him back to his Greek form, and Bianca could imagine a trace of regret on his face. “That is for his own safety.”

“What are you trying to protect him from? You certainly didn’t stop him from going on that quest with Percy Jackson!”

“Neither did you.” His reply stings. “And if you’re here to question his whereabouts, I’ve no idea where the Jackson boy is, and I’m glad for it. Your obsession has gone on long enough, don’t you think?”

Bianca bites her lip, bites her tongue till blood swells and crystallizes her words, “Do you expect me to keep doing your bidding while you keep me in the dark?”

“I expect duty from my daughter. Nothing less, nothing more. Review your loyalties carefully, Bianca. You don’t know this brother. He’s little more than a stranger to you.”

“I know he’s your favorite,” she bites, “but you don’t have to make it so obvious. I’m not going to _ruin_ him, or whatever it is you’re afraid I’ll do.”

Bianca can be good. Bianca can be quiet. Bianca can let the pressure compress her insides to _diamonds_ , rather than explode. 

“I’m not afraid you’ll do anything.”

The remark is so casual, so taunting, Bianca doesn’t expect the earth to crack underneath her, or the skeletons on the walls to rattle, or the ghosts to take angry shape and turn against their master. 

Hades turns, slowly, rubies piercing her skin. 

“Maybe you should be.”


	3. hecuba

Cold sweat trickles down Bianca’s neck as Annabeth approaches, flagged by three young demigods. One of them is _Jason_ , who’s been missing from Camp Jupiter for almost two months. She isn’t sure the exact number of days—Nico would know, he was obsessed with finding him. She knew Percy had been missing. Jason just appeared, so that meant Percy couldn’t be far behind. They were connected. She could feel it. Her father’s promise of silence restrained her when they approached. 

Bianca raises herself out of her heavy coat and tries to smile. Her lips crack. The muscles it takes to smile are stiff and cold as the impending winter. 

“No luck so far,” Bianca reports, deciding it best to break the tension before Annabeth gets her hopes up. 

“New campers,” she says, waving to the three of them. “Prophecy. You get the gist.” She sounds exhausted, incapable of more than a few words at a time. 

“I’m Piper,” the girl says. Her brown eyes are sweet, and her voice pleasant. She doesn’t shake her hand but instead holds it, sharing a breath with her. The tension Bianca didn’t know she was holding fades away.

Her cheeks pink. She takes her hand back. 

A boy with curly hair and an impish smile that reminds her of her brother introduces himself next. “Leo Valdez, at your service.” He opts for a high-five. His hand is warm.

At last, Jason extends his arm for a polite handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, miss. My name is Jason.” He doesn’t greet her like a long lost friend. He doesn’t have that same glimmer in Nico’s eyes when he saw her for the first time. He must have no idea who she is. 

“Bianca diAngelo,” she says, schooling a neutral expression. She breathes out when they shakes. “Pleased to meet you.”

“DiAngelo?” 

This catches Annabeth’s attention. “You two know each other?” 

“Nico,” he says, and the name is so _sweet_ and sure in his mouth, it drives a stake through her heart. “Do you have a brother named Nico? I… I knew him, somehow.” 

She has to keep up the pretense for Annabeth, to protect the identity of the camps from each other. Her loyalty to her father begets a web of lies she’s starting to lose track of this late. She spits chalk from her mouth, “I doubt it. He’s dead.”

An avalanche of guilt crushes her insides when Jason’s face falls. “Oh... my mistake. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s all right.” Jason looks _guilty_ and she hates it. “It happened a long time ago.”

“Jason’s lost his memories,” Annabeth explains. “We’re trying to figure out who he is, where he belongs. I think he might be the key to finding Percy.”

“Let’s hope so.”

When Percy shows up, she knows she needs to get Nico out of camp. If he remembers Bianca, if he remembers, if _Nico_ remembers Percy—things are only going to get more complicated. There are too many variables while he’s around. 

She has this under control, and she’ll prove it to her father. The ground shivers underneath her. She has to maintain _control_. 

“I have a mission for you,” she tells him, “from dad.”

Nico lights up, his attention drawn from the new camper in the distance. “From dad? Seriously?”

She gives Nico instructions, the bit of the prophecy they’ve discovered, and how Gaea’s armies can be stopped if the doors of death are closed. And they need someone to find them on the other side, in Tartarus. 

“What about Hazel?” His hand trembles. “Will she have to go back if they close?”

Bianca bites her lip. It wasn’t her choice to tell him about Hazel’s origin, but once her younger siblings got close, they started sharing everything with each other. “Not if I have anything to say about it,” she tells him. “But you have to leave, now.”

Nico becomes suddenly unsure. He’s been mapping out routes to look for Jason, and he can’t simply abandon his legion duties either. Bianca waves his worries away with a placid series of lies.

“It can’t wait,” Bianca insists. “We can’t risk Octavian getting suspicious by sounding the alarm. If you do this, it’ll make finding Jason a lot faster. We will find him, Nico, he’s out there. But sometimes we have to put what we want on hold to do what’s needed.”

He chews this wisdom thoroughly and swallows it down. His thick brows crease in a determined line. “I’ll do it.”

She helps him pack and rushes him out of camp that hour. “All you have to do is verify the location of the entrance, and come back. Shadow travel. Just like we practiced, remember?”

“I think so… um, can I at least say goodbye to Reyna and Hazel?”

“Reyna knows, and I’m going to talk to Hazel. Trust me, it’ll be easier this way. They’re only going to worry about you going off on your own.” She firms her hands over his shoulders. “I believe in you, Nico. I know you can do this. You’ll make us all proud.”

His little chest swells with pride. “Dad, too?”

“Yeah,” she smiles, tears wetting the corner of her eyes. “Especially dad.” She hugs him, hiding her sobs in his curls. “Now, what’s the plan?”

“Find the entrance, scout it, come back and tell you.”

“Don’t go in,” Bianca reiterates. “No matter what you see, what you hear. You come back straight away. All right?”

“I got it, Bee, I got it!” He shrugs her off, smile faltering a little. “I can do this.”

She nods, pulling away into herself. She hopes she hasn’t missed the best of his growth, yet. She wants to be there for him now that she has a chance. “I know.”

The flurry of activity over the next few days keeps people from asking questions. The war games, Percy Jackson’s quest, and finally, the oncoming Greeks. At last, all the gods children may meet in one place.

But when Percy returns from his quest, memories intact, he’s angry. 

Not as pissed as Reyna, though.

“Where is he?” 

Bianca looks away from the sky, where she’s waited for the Argo to settle into view. “What?”

“Nico’s _gone_. We can’t find any trace of him!”

“He’s on a mission from our father,” she placates. “Relax. He’ll be back soon.” She gave him a very specific timeline. He’ll return once the Greeks have arrived, which will be any day now. Then, he can reunite with Jason, and Bianca can explain everything to everyone. She’s kept it together so well all this time. The end is in sight.

Reyna grips the front of her jacket. “He’s in _danger_ , Bianca, you sent him off on his own—” 

“We would have attracted much more attention together,” she points out, struggling in the praetor’s iron hold. 

“Have you heard from him? How could you let him do this alone?”

They both know Nico is eager to prove himself. Eager to find Jason, eager to reach, eager to be met with open arms. 

“You took advantage of him,” Reyna hisses. “You showed up out of nowhere, after _years_ , just to use him to your own ends?”

Bianca shoves back, dark matter flickering in her shadow. “I didn’t know he was alive,” she snaps. “This wasn’t part of the plan. I want him _safe_ , and he won’t be safe here!”

“You think he’s going to be safer out there, with Gaea rising, her forces getting stronger by the day?” The sound of footsteps, others approaching. Scouts that have spotted the Grecian ship. Reyna reigns herself in, finally releasing Bianca. But the surge of energy between them remains. “No, it’s easier when he’s not around, when no one has to ask questions, it’s easier for you to _hide_.”

“Hide?” The ground fissures beneath their feet, green smoke pouring slowly out. “I swear, Reyna, _be quiet_.”

“Or what? You’ll send me off to my death?”

Reyna’s provoking her. She’s losing control. She can’t. Lose. _Control_.

The fissure seals itself up, the only sign of something amiss being the stink of sulfur in the air. She pulls away, straightening her coat, longing to sink into the shadows where everything is cool and easy. 

“I have done everything I can to protect him, care for him, _be there_ for him,” Reyna says tightly. “Whatever happens to him is on you.” 

_Don’t remind me_. “I’m just—I have everything under control. I know what I’m doing.” But now, struck with the prospect of losing her brother a second time, she falters.

“Clearly,” she simpers, “you don’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> this won't be intensely expansive story wise but will explore some fun dynamics and really dig into the underworld siblings relationship (hazel, nico and bianca). and of course jasico because Thats Who I Am


End file.
